Lifeboats on Uncertain Tides
by hemofosho
Summary: Obstacles, Allies, & Brittana. What should happen in season 3.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Glee, and I won't own Glee for any of the other chapters.**

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><p><em>"There seemed to be endless obstacles… it seemed that the root cause of them all was fear." –Joanna Field<em>

_- - - - - - - Chapter 1_

It was the first day of senior year and Santana sat on the edge of bed her tying up her sweet new Nike kicks she had gotten a week ago while school shopping with her Mami._ Weezy's gunna be so jealous,_ she thought with a smirk. She rose to her feet and strode over to the floor to ceiling mirror she had made her dad install opposite her bed. The reflective strip rose from the bottom runner, to the ceiling, and then continued across the ceiling over her bed. She had told her parents it was for aesthetic design, but be real—she had gotten it installed a week after the first time her and Britt had had sweet lady kisses. It may be narcissistic but hey, she can't help it if she's sexy as hell. She gazed into the mirror and appraised her outfit selection. She smoothed down her long dark brown hair and she looked over herself approvingly. She had chosen tight black skinny jeans with a tight hot pink swoop neck tank top that accentuated her fantastic chest and matched her new Nike's to boot._ Ima look alllll sorts of fine for Britts_, she thought to herself with a cocky grin. 

Thinking of the cheerful blonde made Santana's heart swell. They had spent the entire summer cuddling while watching movies, holding hands while walking through the park to feed ducks, and sneaking cheek kisses before bed every night as they snuggled together. It felt like old times… not the more recent old times of freshman and sophomore year filled with sweet lady kisses and sexy times, but an even purer era, back to middle and elementary school times. But this past summer had, if possible, even topped those blissful days of old. Santana had never felt happier than she had the past three months, and she had to admit that Britt was right- it was better when you talk about feelings. All summer long, Brittany had maintained her decision that the two could not be in a romantic relationship until Santana came out, and Santana understood where she was coming from, even if it was disappointing. Brittany had been hurt before by Santana when she had pushed Brittany away while ignoring her own feelings because she was scared and ashamed of other people judging her. Santana couldn't blame Brittany for being afraid of getting hurt because of Santana's fear- hell Santana was scared of hurting Brittany because of her own fear, and right now she couldn't guarantee she wouldn't panic and hurt her again. In turn, Santana over time, became able to vocalize to Brittany exactly why she was so scared of coming out, and Brittany realized it had been unfair to push Santana so hard. She hadn't understood about Santana's family, she had only been thinking about their friends. So throughout the summer they had decided to start working on reestablishing their relationship, and although platonic at the moment, they were trying to work on dealing with Santana's fears, so they could bring their relationship to the next level, where they both wanted it to be. Santana was still too scared to tell her parents, but she knew she wanted to work on it because she loved her Britts and she knew Brittany loved her. 

Santana stepped back from the mirror and with one last look over her shoulder, she gave her butt a little shimmy, grinned, and then grabbed her book bag from besides her desk on her way out the door. 

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><p><strong>AN: And so it begins! I really hope you guys like it, it will pick up a lot, and fast. This is my first not-based-on-anything fic so reviews and critiques are super welcome and wanted! Cheers :-)**


	2. Chapter 2

_- - - - - - - Chapter 2_

Santana pulled into the McKinley parking lot in the shiny new Mazda MX-8 her Papa had gotten her after she passed her driver's test that summer. It was hot and she looked hot in it. The jaws that dropped as she slammed the door shut and strut away towards the main entrance did nothing to discourage her cocky attitude. _Santana Lopez is one smokin' bitch, ain't no one who can deny it, _she thought to herself as she grasped the door handle, swung it open, and walked inside. She spotted Puck across the hall and as he saw her out of the corner of his eye he ditched the sophomore Cheerio he was chatting up and stepped toward her spreading his arms wide. 

"What's up my sexy Latina?" he said with a broad grin across his face. 

"As if you could handle this" she retorted, as she stepped into the giant bear hug that was awaiting her. She hadn't seen Puck since the party he threw to kick off the summer. Through the grapevine she had heard that he had gone to New York with his family, but she didn't know why or how long he had been gone. "Where you been Puck? I haven't seen your lame ass all summer." 

Santana gets a little concerned when she sees Puck's eyes glaze over a bit and the previous smile he wore drooped down a bit becoming a sad little half smile. 

"I was in Queens with my Ma and Becca." Becca was Puck's eleven year old sister. "My aunt and uncle got into a car crash." He paused, "Things… were bad. The other car blew a red light and T-boned their car. Aunt Judith was in the passenger's seat and got hit straight on. She's…she died." Puck stumbled through the words, and Santana hadn't seen him this close to crying since he had given up Beth. 

"I'm so sorry Puck, that's awful." Santana said, reaching out and squeezing his arm. She saw some other kids in the hall staring at the uncharacteristic act of kindness, but she didn't care- she'd deal with them later. "How is your uncle?" she asked. 

"He's not dead but it seems like he might as well be. The crash put him in a coma—that's why me, Ma, and Becca stayed the summer in New York, we had to take care of my cousins", he explained. "My mom is their legal guardian in this situation and we went to New York hoping Uncle David would break the coma within a few weeks, but nothing happened, and he still hasn't woken up." 

Santana just stared at him dumbfounded. How so much tragedy could happen to one family she would never understand. She didn't know what to say, so she leaned in and gave him another hug. When they pulled away Santana asked curiously, "so what happened to your cousins if you guys are back here?" 

"Since the school year was approaching and Uncle David hasn't shown any progress, my Ma decided to bring Jordan and Benji back to Lima with us. Jordan's actually a junior, so you'll probably see her around." Puck informed her. "Hows about the three of us hit up Breadstix tonight? You know, to cheers to another year of being head badasses on campus. Going out on top baby!" Puck fist pumped into the air with a huge shit-eating grin across his face. "Brittany can come too" he said slyly. He wasn't above manipulating the Latina into submitting. 

Santana's face lit up, "Hell yeah! Stix is the only way to start off the year! Good thinking Puck. And uhh, I'll let Britts know." 

Puck smirked. "Alright chica I'll catch you later." 

Santana nodded as she spun off towards her locker and the sea of students parted like the red sea as she smirked with satisfaction and strode down the hall. 

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><p>After the final bell had rung, signaling the end of the first day of school, Santana rounded the corner and turned through the door into the choir room, where she glances around for her favorite head of blonde hair, and spots Brittany sitting next to Puck on the middle riser at the far left of the room. Brittany was animatedly telling Puck about the Fondue for Two webisodes she had done over the summer. <p>

Santana smiled at the thought of one of Brittany's interviews, when she tried to interview the ducks at the pond and had fallen off the footbridge as she attempted to reach them with her microphone. Brittany had squealed in surprise at the rush of cold water that engulfed her. Santana reached out to help pull Brittany out of the pond, but Brittany had another idea and yanked the tiny Latina into the water. Sputtering as she broke the surface, Santana was about to explode until she looked over at Brittany who was giggling and smiling shyly as she leaned over a laid a soft peck on Santana's mouth. Santana melted. _Damn_, she thought, _I'm never gunna be able to get mad at that mug am I?_

As Santana entered the room, Brittany looked over at her and gestured excitedly, while Puck gave a little wave. Mercedes called out from the top row, "Yo Satan! Sweet kicks!" while Kurt who was sitting with her nodded admiringly in approval. 

"Thanks girl", Santana said with a smile. She didn't want to admit it but it felt good to see everyone from Glee again. 

As she sat down between Brittany and Puck on the riser behind them, she looked around the room and saw Rachel talking faster than lightning at Finn whose eyes had started to glaze over, Tina sitting in between both Artie and Mike which made Santana raise her eyes brows until she saw Quinn walk in out of the corner of her eye and go over to Mercedes and Kurt. After Nationals and her determination to have a fresh start, Quinn had rekindled her friendship with Mercedes. The two had hung out all summer long, and Santana secretly thought it was really good for her friend. Quinn needed to take a break from all the drama in her life and start living for herself. _Weezy may be a diva_, Santana thought, _but she's real_. Mercedes was able to be confident, and be herself, and live her life without "needing a man". Being lonely could be sad from time to time and that was unavoidable, but Mercedes was the epitome of strong independent woman, and _Quinn could stand to learn a lesson or two from her_, Santana mused. 

Just then an unfamiliar face walked through the door and everyone turned and stared at the new figure in the room. Santana's eyes started at the black combat boots and traveled up over tight black skinny jeans to a white wifebeater to the intruder's face which had a nose ring, hazel eyes covered in dark eye makeup, and ended in a dark brown faux hawk. The girl wore a deep stare that was intimidating; preemptively nullifying anyone who would challenge her. Santana stared for a second at the intruder before sweeping her eyes around the room the see everyone else's reactions. Finn, Sam, Artie, Mike, and Lauren's chins had all dropped as they stared, and Kurt's eyes were open wide in shock. Santana turned towards Puck expecting to see him either drooling or making crude gestures, but is taken aback to see Puck looking surprised as well, but then he smiled and stood, and exclaimed, "Hey! Didn't think I'd see you in here" as he held out to fist-bump this new girl. 

_She's tough_, thought Santana _…and very clearly gay_, she realized, stunned. 

He turned towards everyone else, "Yo everyone! This is my cousin Jordan", while playfully punching her in the shoulder. 

_Should have known with that haircut that she was a Puckerman_, Santana said to herself wryly. With this new information she realized the stranger was the female version of Puck, but with a slightly colder demeanor. 

"But where did she come from?" Kurt said sputtering over his own astonishment at having someone so _different_ here in Lima. 

Puck replied, "She's here staying with me, but she hails from New York City", and it was now Rachel's turn to drop her jaw in shock and jealousy. 

She recovered quickly. Popping out of her chair and sticking out her hand she said, "Well let me be the first to welcome you to McKinley High School Glee Club! My name is Rachel, and I'm the female lead and team captain. This is my boyfriend Finn, the male lead, and these are my fellow glee clubbers…" Santana zoned out as Rachel's mouth went a mile a minute running through introductions, "…and this is Brittany who is our very best female dancer, and", Rachel's finger pointing towards Santana, "last but not least this is Santana, her best friend, and a most excellent jazz singer if I do say so, and of course my opinion is quite legitimate with my talent level and vast experience." Santana had glanced down and snapped out her daze when she heard Brittany's name and she had looked over at the blonde girl and smiled distractedly. 

"Hey" fingers snapped in front of her face as her attention was caught by the Jordan who was holding her arm out to shake her hand. 

"Oh my b" Santana jumped a little in her seat startled by the sudden noise in her face, and held out her arm to shake Jordan's proffered hand. Jordan gave her a look Santana couldn't read, and she released Jordan's hand quickly. For the first time in her life Santana was intimidated by someone. She had always been very good at reading people, and not being able to read the expressions on Jordan's made her feel a bit uncomfortable. 

Jordan sat down behind Puck after dropping Santana's hand and the challenging stare never left her face. Some of the glee clubbers shifted uncomfortably in their seats, clearly intimidated. Puck turned around to face Jordan, "Hey we're gunna hit up our favorite digs for dinner later, you in?" he asked. 

"Sure" Jordan answered nonchalantly. 

"Yayy!" Brittany cheered, "San we're going to Breadstix!" 

Santana smiled affectionately at her, squeezed her shoulder. She felt a little unsettled around Jordan, and she was expect dinner to be quite awkward. Oh well, she'd have her stix and her Britts- couldn't be that bad. She sat back and continued waiting for Glee to begin. 

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><p><strong>AN: I know this chapter doesn't have much Brittany in it yet, but as Brad said- this is about Santana's story.**

**Don't worry, Brittana is on, it was always on.**

**Let me know how it's going!**


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